Continuing the Gameweek 26 Scout Notes is a look at notable Fantasy Premier League (FPL) events from the City Ground, a match that finalised Nottingham Forest’s decision to sack Sean Dyche.
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Strand Larsen brace, Munoz’s xGI + Burnley comeback
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Iraola on Rayan, £4.0m Hill superb + Ndiaye pen
- READ MORE: FPL notes – Is Haaland injured? Guardiola on his half-time removal
- READ MORE: Wednesday’s goals, assists, bonus + DefCon points
A few talking points emerged for FPL managers.
DYCHE DISMISSED
The first two nights of Double Gameweek 26 have brought a post-match parting of ways. After just 114 days in charge, Dyche was let go by the Nottingham Forest hierarchy.
“Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that Sean Dyche has been relieved of his duties as head coach.
“We would like to thank Sean and his staff for their efforts during their time at the Club and we wish them the best of luck for the future. We will be making no further comment at this time.” – Statement from Nottingham Forest website
Once a replacement is sorted, they will become the first ever Premier League team to have four permanent managers in a single campaign.
SO MANY SHOTS
Although Forest’s players weren’t exactly lacking motivation against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Creating more history, they did everything but score from a whopping 35 shots and 2.55 expected goals (xG).
This is the league’s highest number of non-fruitful team attempts since Manchester United in October 2016.
16 took place inside the penalty area and 10 were on target, with four labelled by Opta as a big chance.
Above: The seven efforts of both Elliot Anderson (left) and Neco Williams (right)
Elliot Anderson (£5.4m) and full-back Neco Williams (£4.7m) both racked up seven attempts, albeit mostly from far out. And that was the problem: quantity, without quality.
Meanwhile, an early Anderson cross should have been buried by Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.3m), who later surged forward to set up a weak Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.7m) effort.
Each of this quartet were involved in at least nine shots, and 0.50 expected goal involvement (xGI).
Perhaps the most extraordinary miss came in the first half, when a counter-attack had six Forest attackers versus one Wolves defender. Lorenzo Lucca (£5.5m) duly fired over the bar.
Coming just days after a defeat at fellow relegation battlers Leeds United, this 0-0 could prove costly. Forest are merely three points above the drop zone.
SOLID START TO WOLVES’ DOUBLE
As for Wolves, they’re almost certainly set to go down, but are at least showing some spirit.
It’s three clean sheets in seven for the likes of Jose Sa (£4.2m) and Yerson Mosquera (£4.3m) – though this one feels a bit lucky!
12 points for goalkeeper Sa brought great news to those using him on a Bench Boost. Regardless of this Double Gameweek’s upcoming Arsenal encounter, he’ll now be seen as a successful punt.
The highlight of these 10 saves was a quick point-blank denial of poorly placed Igor Jesus (£5.8m) and Morato (£4.3m) tap-ins.
“They pushed us back and we had to defend and counter, but through that, we almost got a winner in the end. I’ll be very honest and I don’t think we’d have deserved that, but we did show loads of character, heart, fight, spirit – all of those things but not loads of quality.” – Rob Edwards
However, Wolves’ own Mateus Mane (£4.6m) put a low 59th-minute shot on target, and almost won the match during a stoppage-time counter-attack.
MORE ANDERSON DEFCON
Furthermore, Mane almost became this season’s third forward to get defensive contribution (DefCon) points. His 11 actions were agonisingly close.
Tough fixtures and managerial chaos make Forest almost uninvestable for FPL managers. It’s a place where perhaps the only certainty is that Anderson will keep receiving DefCon.
Nobody in the league has reached the threshold more often, and he’s done so in 10 consecutive matches. This means he’s pretty much got a weekly floor of four points because, unlike defenders, he won’t lose points based on goals conceded.
14 of Anderson’s last 17 appearances brought at least four points, and only once did he drop down to two.
Combining this consistency with big, explosive, premium FPL assets elsewhere is like striking gold. Those still in cup competitions could do with such low-priced reliability.
